E X C E R P T FROM
Embrace & Reform: Ending Hazing’s Prohibition Era ALDO CIMINO
Many fraternity and sorority members want to haze incoming members. My work in the Journal of Cognition and Culture discusses how members create ordeals that lack obvious relevance to organizational activities such as rigorous calisthenics or servile labor. The desire to haze among some members is sufficient to risk expulsion, civil or criminal consequences, chapter dissolution, and (in some instances) the death of an inductee. The persistence of hazing in the face of obvious risks and societal resistance should be interpreted as a clear message that many chapters desperately want to maintain severe inductions. Rather than working with chapters to codify safer hazing ordeals, a broad coalition has worked for decades to undercut the legitimacy of severe inductions and deny members the ability to conduct them. The result is we are now in hazing’s prohibition era. Just like America’s historical prohibition of alcohol, we have not stopped the production of hazing. Instead, we have ensured it can be produced in a way that is wholly unregulated and reckless.
In this article, I hope to convince you that the assumptions underlying modern hazing prevention efforts are flawed, and it is time to investigate alternatives. I will lay out one such alternative, with a focus on reforming hazing practices and ensuring informed consent.
“If you are an active member of a fraternity or sorority, understand this article will not serve as a justification for hazing, nor will it indemnify you from any consequences.” While some of my arguments may be logically applicable to organizations other than Greek letter societies, my recommendations are for fraternities and sororities only. Further, because research on hazing widely shows it is more severe among men, my focus will be on reforming fraternity hazing. Most importantly, I will advocate for the formal evaluation of specific hazing practices, not for their as-is acceptance. If you are an active member of a fraternity or sorority, understand this article will not serve as a justification for hazing, nor will it indemnify you from any consequences. 34 34
